Rivals season two, part two opens with a funeral. The mid-season finale – and spoilers if you haven’t caught up yet – saw Tony’s long-suffering wife, Lady Monica, killed in a car accident after finally deciding to leave her cheating husband once and for all, and the aftermath has left our once-cheerful characters steeped in misery.
David Tennant’s Tony is as hateful as ever in Rivals season 2 part 2
Tony is a broken man, detested by his son, consumed with a new level of hatred for his competition, and possessed of more determination than ever to destroy them. Meanwhile, Declan remains in the dark about his wife’s infidelity, Rupert denies himself his one true love, Taggie, and Freddie and Lizzie continue their affair, which feels less sweet and romantic and more seedy by the day. But my question is: when did this show stop being silly good fun and get so doom and gloom?
Lizzie and Freddie’s relationship continues in Rivals
From season one’s opening shot of Rupert boinking in an aeroplane bathroom (because all sex on this show should most certainly be described as ‘boinking’) while ’80s music blasted and the clouds were very suggestively shaped, this show had an instant identity. It was funny, it was nostalgic, it was silly, it was romantic, and all in all, it really wasn’t that deep.
Rivals season 2 part two opens to a funeral
Cut to season two, part two – which already lost any momentum or investment after nonsensically splitting the season’s run six months apart – and the characters are deeply unhappy, the relationships are slow-moving and boring, and the rivalry between the television production companies is as uninteresting as ever. While all shows, of course, need their moments of darkness, it feels as though Rivals’ once-brilliant spark has been somewhat dulled.
Victoria Smurfitt is delightful as Maud in Rivals
That is not to say that the show doesn’t still have its moments of brilliance. Emily Atack is a particular stand-out as the heavily pregnant Sarah Stratton, who finds herself under Rupert’s wing, with plenty of enjoyable banter between the two once-naked tennis players, now good pals.
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Victoria Smurfit’s Maud is also excellent as a woman careering on the edge of being discovered for sleeping with the enemy at any moment, while both hoping for her dream career through Tony and desperately trying to hang on to her marriage.
There is a blossoming romance between Taggie and Basil in Rivals
I also really enjoyed Taggie’s burgeoning romance with Basil, all the while knowing that, of course, she and Rupert simply have to be endgame. And while I’m sticking with the goings-on in Rutshire for now, I hope the show will be restored to its good old-fashioned ’80s fun soon enough – after all, any old show can do doom and gloom, but Rivals had something special. It just needs to find it again.
Rivals season two part two lands on Disney+ on Wednesday 11 November.
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